The 7 Steps of Major Donor Fundraising: What Goes Wrong and How to Fix It
The 7 steps of major donor fundraising are widely known — but following them does not guarantee success. Beth Upton argues that charities struggle not because they misunderstand the steps, but because they have not put the organisational foundations in place first. Here is what to address before you start the sequence.
Thanking Major Donors Like You Mean It: Beyond the Template
A thank-you letter that reads like a template tells donors they are not really known. Hannah Shepherd shares a simple approach to writing donor thanks that feel personal — and explains why the difference between a warm, specific letter and a formal acknowledgement is greater than most fundraisers realise.
Failure to ask: a cautionary tale
One of the most common reasons charities miss major gifts is simply that they never make the ask. Beth Upton tells the story of an organisation that had everything it needed to secure a significant gift — and never asked. The consequences were entirely avoidable.
How you can judge a major donor programme by a cup of tea
Before assessing a major donor programme, you need to understand the culture around it. Beth Upton shares the five warning signs she looks for when visiting a charity for the first time — and why so many of them show up before she has even sat down.
What Makes a Great Major Donor Fundraiser? The Six Attributes That Matter Most
Major donor fundraising requires a very specific combination of skills, personality traits, and working habits. Beth Upton identifies the six attributes that distinguish excellent major donor fundraisers — and why understanding them matters whether you are recruiting this role or developing someone already in it.
How Do You Define a Major Gift?
Here at Money Tree Fundraising, one of the most common questions that we get asked is ‘How do you define a major gift?’, with our clients expecting us to state a fixed sum for them. Others come to us with their own pre-determined definitions and there is huge disparity between their answers.
Engaging Major Donors Well: Who, What and How
Major donor fundraising is not as tricky as you might think and it is the one way of fundraising that works regardless of your organisation’s size or cause area and it can be set up on a shoestring budget – as long as it done well. There is no charity that can afford to not consider this area of fundraising.
High Value Fundraising: Are You Making the Most of It?
Our CEO Beth Upton has worked in fundraising since 2002 and is regularly frustrated by the income opportunities not being taken advantage of by charities, large and small.
Hiring the Right Fundraiser: How to Avoid the Most Common Mistake
The single biggest mistake I see from those recruiting for high value roles is the mistake of choosing the best person of those who came for interview rather than holding out for the person with the right skills, attributes and experience.
Cultivation Events: A 12-Point Checklist for Major Donor Fundraisers
Events will never be the be-all-and-end-all of major donor fundraising. Whilst they can be delightful, fun and a real talking point at home, they are more often than not an expensive distraction.
What Do Your Major Donors Actually Want From You?
In a recent piece of client work we conducted a survey of the charity’s top donors, in order to better understand what they thought about the work of the charity and what interaction they were looking for. When summarising the donor feedback to pass on to the charity, it struck me that there were three identifiable themes.
6 Essentials for a Successful Major Donor Programme
We are often asked what needs to be in place for successful major donor fundraising, to which the answer varies depending on the charity. However, there are 6 generally accepted fundamental factors (I don’t claim to have invented these!), which should act as the core of your major donor programme
Major Donor Fundraising: What Are You Waiting For?
Most charities seem fascinated by the concept of major donor fundraising, yet very few explore it thoroughly or have everything in place to run a major donor programme effectively. This is totally understandable as most charities are small, don’t have the resources and don’t know where to look for potential wealthy benefactors.
How big is big?
Defining a major gift is not about picking a round number — it is about understanding your capacity to invest in individual relationships. Beth Upton explains how to find your organisation's own threshold and what it means for how you segment and manage your donor base.
Delighting your Donor
The secret to delighting major donors is simpler than most fundraisers think — it starts with being honest about how many donor relationships you can genuinely sustain. Beth Upton explains how to find your capacity and then deliver exactly what your donors want.